Angel
 

Well, my goodness me. This song is just ridiculously good. I am astonsihed that life has gone on relatiively uninterrupted since 1979, with this magical, transcendent, preposterously BEAUTIFUL sound in the ether.

FFS - 'astonsihed' shou;d read 'astonished'. (Especially humiliating for a professional proofreader, which is what I am - ** shoots self and feels immediately better **)

!!!!!!
Also managed to type 'relatiively'????
(I would just drink more but I have to work tomorrow)
and yes, i'm aware i'm talking to myself
how to stop?
um, like this

Lol, with the blue button on the right at the bottom of your post you can edit your post ;)
And yes, Angel is a very beautiful song.

So, Jellyman, are you hungover today? :laugh:

What if she did this song in her summer set????:nod:

It would be great! She'd sound fantastic on it, and it would likely have that Bittan/Wachtell dance hall feel, as opposed to the FM sound, which I never quite liked as much. It was too fast for me. Of course, if I'd just blown three lines and was going on stage to sing Angel, I'd want it fast like FM did it.

Unlikely she'd do it in a solo set though, since it's such a FM oriented song.

It's funny how "slow" the album version can seem to me, after I've listened to the live versions several times in a row.

Michele

Completely. Stand Back is like that with FM too.

The song was part of her solo set for the Bella Donna and Wild Heart tours (and was done REALLY well!!!). I would love to see this back in her set. Everyone says that people leave when she doesn't do the hits, "Angel" wasn't a hit, but I doubt anyone would leave when this started!!!

Right, it was the WH arrangement that I think I liked best. And I suppose it wasn't a hit, but I mean she did it for three tours and it was on Tusk, so I would think that a lot of people might know it. Plus, like you said, it's a happenin;, upbeat song -- no one would leave.

"Angel" was really the song that truly MADE me a Stevie Fan. The lyrics are SO identifiable, especially as a gay 16 year old when I first heard it in 1982 (on Stevie's birthday!). All those stolen looks and secret desires...

"I still look up
When you walk in the room
I've got the same wide eyes
Now they tell the story!

I'm trying not to reach out
When you turn around
And you say hello
And we're both pretending
No great pretender..."

Okay, what gay boy hasn't lived those lines?!! ;)

I quoted that song so many times in my journal...

Although there was a point on the 1980 tour -- May & June -- when a lot of the songs (including Angel & Say You Love Me & The Chain & even Not That Funny) got even slower than the album renditions.

The live versions from the 1981 tour were cool (& very typical of the L.A. session player style), but I prefer the sleek, sinewy Mac way of playing Angel, which exemplified the uniqueness of the Fleetwood Mac instrumental sound. It's what separates a truly great, idiosyncratic band from a bunch of session musicians just crashing through. It has nothing to do with tempo (actually, the 1981 tempo is slower than the Fleetwood Mac 1980 tempo).

Me too. In fact, I don't care for the album version. But live, it just becomes something very special. There was a clip from a festival (the 'US' Fest?) from around '82 or so floating around, with solo Stevie rocking 'Angel'. The girls were off-key, but Waddy's guitar was so crunchy. It was cool.

Us Fest 1983 ~ Memorial Day, BTW!!! 27 years ago!

Yes, the gals are SO off-key, especially on "Angel", "Edge of Seventeen" and "Gypsy". But it's a wonderful concert on video!

I'll admit the album version is good, but I really like the version of the Tusk doc. It has a good, upbeat tempo that retains the Mac's sound and throws in a great harmony between Lindsey and Stevie.

I love the song Angel...its great...esp live like all of you have mentioned but I don't mind the studio versions either but esp the outtakes too!! Its all good. I wish it would get performed live again....but I know I'm only dreaming about that one.....:shrug::D

Oh my god - I thought I was the only one!!
Mike, you're my new hero.

I must admit, I never really understood what all the fan-fair was about over Angel as I've never really liked the music. It's just ok to me. Catchy, yes. I know people go crazy with her old performances of it but I just can't relate. I will say though I've given it some more listens and thoughts lately and the lyrics are fab.

Not to be a stickler, or a bitch, but I'm gonna show you what the words really are. You can sing it the way you wrote it, that's fine, but these are the lyrics from the piano music book:

I still look up
When you walk in the room
I've the same wide eyes
Now they tell the story

I try not to reach out
When you turn around
And you say hello
And we both pretend
No great pretender

And since we are on the subject I just wanted to say that I love this song, and have always loved this song. I love this song live when perfromed with Fleetwood Mac. I don't enjoy the song when she performs it solo. Something is missing in the sound when she plays it solo, and I don't know what that is.